I can sum it up in one word: Miserable.

It rained all day. It was 43 degrees when we got there, 47 when we left.

We skipped practice and went to Waffle House. I ran 2 laps in qualifying before there was a black flag all to pull a mangled ITS RX7 from the bottom of the esses. It wasn't any fun, so I just went on back to the paddock.

Qualified 3rd of 5 in class, 42nd of probably 60 overall, with a 2:22.x. (A good dry lap for my car is a 1:45.0) ITA leader is 22nd overall, so we have 20 positions to make up tomorrow in the 90 minute race. Not a huge deal, should be doable if we drive well.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. It is supposed to be dry, I think.

 

When I woke up this morning and poked my nose out of the house, all the sudden I didn't feel sad for not getting the car put together in time. Now if it would have been sunny and in the mid 60s, I would have done a face plant off the roof.

Good luck tomorrow!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerBowie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I can sum it up in one word: Miserable.</TD></TR></TABLE>
What a good call to skip this weekend. Wish you guys luck tomorrow and hopefully you'll have better weather. Who is running the ECR in A that we know of?

 

Have fun with that....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
What a good call to skip this weekend. Wish you guys luck tomorrow and hopefully you'll have better weather. Who is running the ECR in A that we know of?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Joe Tenney is in first in his Miata. The other 3 guys I had never heard of. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer and I will get to meet them rather than hiding in the truck with the heat running the whole time.

 

gotta love this hobby

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerBowie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We skipped practice and went to Waffle House.</TD></TR></TABLE>

WAFFLE House totally kicks ***! good choice!

todd

PS oh yeah, good luck with the race tomorrow!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by o-man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">gotta love this hobby</TD></TR></TABLE>

At least it didn't snow this time...

I am actually REALLY looking forward to the race tomorrow. Starting toward the back in a group where I should be in about the top 10 or so in terms of raw speed...

I just have to keep my nose clean during the start, pick up as many spots as possible in my 40 minutes or so, then hopefully hand Fred the car in the lead and tell him to go like hell. Sounds easy enough!

 

Today was much better:

Race started punctually at 8:15. It was really really cold, but dry. I got a great start, and by about lap 4 or 5 we were pretty sure I was in 1st.

We pitted after about 45 minutes, and Fred got in. He went out and was doing fine, but the car started to feel funny and he spun it in 3. Didn't hit anything, but was stuck in the mud for a minute or so, losing the lead. He was walking down the class leader at a rate of 4-5 seconds a lap, but we ran out of time, finishing 4 seconds back, in 2nd place. Turns out we had a tire flat-spotted so badly it was PAST cord. I am pretty sure it is flat now.

Fun time!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerBowie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Turns out we had a tire flat-spotted so badly it was PAST cord. I am pretty sure it is flat now.

Fun time!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey, that sounds like a familiar statement at RA

 

yes today ( sunday) was definately alot better of a day both in the racing aspect and weather aspect to saturday.

and definatly a big thumbs up to Bowie and Fred for great driving on there parts!it was a blast


-CJ

 

Well that sounds like a successful weekend !

I might join ya for the tail part of this season!

 

We had an up and down weekend. I switched to Pro-IT when I saw that it would be sunny on sunday. The rain was miserable on saturday and I only did a few laps in qualifying, starting 12th overall, 3rd in ITA. The race was fun, nice dry all day on sunday. It was the first time out this year in the Integra, so the car still has some issues that I dealt with during the race. It STILL pops out of 4th gear, and my steering column loosened up on me during the race, so I was steering with a moving steering column/wheel. It wasnt bad enough to pull in, so I held onto it and finished 1st in ITA and 2nd overall.

So I got back to Charlotte, put the car in the storage garage, and parked my trailer behind my buddys race shop where Ive had it for months, this was about 8pm last night. Got a call from him this morning, the trailer was gone. Yup, my open trailer AND his 42' Gooseneck trailer was stolen as well. So within 12 hours of dropping it off, it was gone.

Anybody got a good used trailer for sale?

-Mark

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerboy03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So I got back to Charlotte, put the car in the storage garage, and parked my trailer behind my buddys race shop where Ive had it for months, this was about 8pm last night. Got a call from him this morning, the trailer was gone. Yup, my open trailer AND his 42' Gooseneck trailer was stolen as well. So within 12 hours of dropping it off, it was gone.

Anybody got a good used trailer for sale?

-Mark</TD></TR></TABLE>

Holy crap that sucks! Thank goodness the car was already out of the trailer.

 

Sounds like Christian and I picked a good one to skip.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerboy03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It STILL pops out of 4th gear</TD></TR></TABLE>

Pull the trans - probably a worn bearing and/or shift fork

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Racerboy03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and my steering column loosened up on me during the race, so I was steering with a moving steering column/wheel.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Check the 2 bolts that 'clamp' the steering column from underneath - should be a pair of 10x1.25mm bolts up under the steering column, if they're loose it will feel awful - happened to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Check the 2 bolts that 'clamp' the steering column from underneath - should be a pair of 10x1.25mm bolts up under the steering column, if they're loose it will feel awful - happened to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

or, if your car is like mine, check the big-*** zip-tie that's holding up the column. maybe it needs a little attitude adjustment.

 

I got called into work and shipped off to NY at the last minute so I wasn't able to go. Sounds like missing it wasn't too bad. I think it would have sucked for my first time at Road A.

-Tom

 

Bowie, that ECR had a close finish! Just checked out the results on mylaps.com

Also noticed that 5 Realtime cars were there for Friday's test day. 1:34.x as the fastest time. That's pretty damn quick! That was probably at their minimum weight configuration, and I bet they did plenty of testing with the cars in a full Rewards weight setup. I would just love to know what's being said in their strategy/planning for the year. Definitely got to play your cards smart in WC if you are going for the championship, and these guys should be pros at it by now. Too bad the weather was bad, all 5 cars were also entered in SPU for the weekend.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Bowie, that ECR had a close finish! Just checked out the results on mylaps.com

Also noticed that 5 Realtime cars were there for Friday's test day. 1:34.x as the fastest time. That's pretty damn quick! That was probably at their minimum weight configuration, and I bet they did plenty of testing with the cars in a full Rewards weight setup. I would just love to know what's being said in their strategy/planning for the year. Definitely got to play your cards smart in WC if you are going for the championship, and these guys should be pros at it by now. Too bad the weather was bad, all 5 cars were also entered in SPU for the weekend.</TD></TR></TABLE>

One more lap and I think we would have won it. Not a big deal though, we had a good time, even with the sodden Saturday.